In late 1992, Independent Counsel
Lawrence Walsh, who had been chosen to investigate the
Iran–Contra affair, found documents in the possession of Reagan's former defense secretary,
Caspar Weinberger, which Walsh said was "evidence of a conspiracy among the highest-ranking Reagan Administration officials to lie to Congress and the American public."
[54][55] Weinberger was set to stand trial on felony charges on January 5, 1993.
[54][56] His "indictment said Mr. Weinberger's notes contradicted Mr. Bush's assertions that he had only a fragmentary knowledge of the arms secretly sold to Iran in 1985 and 1986 in exchange for American hostages in Lebanon."
[56][55][57] According to Walsh, then-president Bush might have been called as a witness.
[58]
On December 24, 1992, during his final month in office, Bush, on the advice of Barr, pardoned Weinberger,
[15][59] along with
five other administration officials who had been found guilty on charges relating to the
Iran–Contra affair.
[15][60][61][54] Barr was consulted extensively regarding the pardons, and especially advocated for pardoning Weinberger.
[62]
Walsh complained about the move insinuating that Bush on Barr's advice had used the pardons to avoid testifying and stating that: "The Iran-contra cover-up, which has continued for more than six years, has now been completed."
[63] In 2003, he wrote an account of the investigation in his book,
Firewall: The Iran-Contra Conspiracy and Cover-Up.
www.denverpost.com
Sign up with Google